Maybe not news to us who pay attention to the skating world, but the fact that he announced it after being named to officially go to Sochi....I think it still packs a punch. The US giving notice to Russia that their policies are not OK!

Huh? I thought he'd done this years ago. I agree with Kitt. The timing is perfect and he was so eloquent about it. I'll be happy to see him in Sochi, conducting himself in the classy, dignified way he always does!

So Boitano is another pawn by Obama to make Sochi Olympics as uncomfortable as possible for everyone there?
Adding a gay pawn in this charade doesn't help any gays in Russia.

The Russian gays can watch it on TV, thinking, at the end of the day, this out and proud pawn can safely retreat to the USA, what about us? Yeah, not sure what the hell is the message here. "Hi, I'm Brian, I figure skated. I'm gay. I'm American. I'm safe in your country for the duration of the Olympics. Then I go home. Suck to be you, Russian gays?"

By selecting openly gay athletes and no high ranking officials, Obama is making a clear statement against the Russian laws as well as increasing the visibility of LGBT athletes and the issues they, as well as the LGBT community as a whole, face. And that's as much as he can do.

By selecting openly gay athletes and no high ranking officials, Obama is making a clear statement against the Russian laws as well as increasing the visibility of LGBT athletes and the issues they, as well as the LGBT community as a whole, face. And that's as much as he can do.

This is weak on Obama's part. Putin could probably kill Obama with just his stare.

How exactly is it weak? We're talking about diplomacy here, not internet avatars trolling and throwing insults at each other.

It wouldn't be appropriate for him to do anything more direct than that because how Russia governs itself is far beyond his jurisdiction.

Which is why the German and French presidents also just said they wouldn't be taking part in the Olympics without going into more details (still, the message is pretty clear).

The only high ranking official so far, which was direct was Viviane Reding who tweeted: 'I will certainly not go to Sochi as long as minorities are treated the way they are under the current Russian legislation.' But then, she is the EU Comissioner for Justice and Fundamental Rights.

Gays in Russia are in hiding for fear of being killed.
Gays in America come to Russia and be gay on TV for the world to see. Then they go home.
It's like that scene in The Book of Mormons, it's nice to preach, but what about the people there?